Wabash track & field leads NCAC in outdoor titles under Coach Clyde Morgan

Wabash track & field has run the North Coast Athletic Conference for nearly a decade and a half. Last May, the team — under the leadership of Head Track Coach Clyde Morgan — won its record-setting 10th NCAC Outdoor Title, passing Ohio Wesleyan to become the outright leader in outdoor titles. 

Morgan came to Wabash in 2008, succeeding legendary coach Robert Johnson, who coached Wabash for 37 years and became the first coach from Division III to coach in the Olympics. Morgan had big shoes to fill.

Wabash joined the NCAC in 1999, and by 2008 had never won the NCAC Championship in track. After Morgan stepped into the role, things would quickly change.

“I was in Coach Morgan’s interview,” said Alex Moseman ’11, who was captain when Wabash won its first NCAC Championship. “The only thing I remember was wanting to run through the wall to go to work for him. I remember the first fall practice he held at Wabash, there was a nervous excitement among the guys. We all wanted to make a good first impression. I think he wanted to see if any of us would quit. He cooked us.”

“I want to thank my coaches who have been through the program,” said Morgan. “I haven’t been alone all these years. There have been so many people. I’ve had some awesome assistant coaches that have worked their butts off for me, and I can’t forget all they’ve done.”
– Coach Clyde Morgan

Mentality in sports is in many ways over-credited and under-appreciated. But for Morgan and his team, mentality became the mission of Wabash track. Under Morgan, the team goes about life in a way that is almost completely foreign to most programs. Becoming a better man — a better Wabash man — is everything, and winning follows.

“Coach Morgan pushed and, I am sure, continues to push the team to the highest standard on and off the track,” said Derek De St. Jean ’15, who still owns the school record in the shot put. “Our saying ‘Nothing Breaks Us’ is something I continue to say to this day, 10 years later. No matter the circumstance or situation, don’t let it break you. Fight on. Get yourself back up and get back in the fight. Coach Morgan instilled that mentality and taught me how to handle the stress of the ‘real world’ after Wabash with handling  work or deadlines — ‘WIN: What’s Important Now.’”

In 2011, Wabash won its first NCAC track title — capturing first place in both the indoor and outdoor championships. At the outdoor meet, Wabash set the conference record for most points ever with 311.5.  

“To go from fifth in 2009 to setting the conference record in points in 2011 is a testament to Coach Morgan’s contagious winning attitude,” said Moseman. “That 2011 team had a gritty attitude about it. I don’t think any of us even realized how many points we had scored until late into the second day. We were all so relentlessly focused on competing for each other. For a lot of us, it was the culmination of years of work. We took it out on the competition that weekend. That weekend in Oberlin was also the shift in the team’s attitude about the championships. We expected to win after that.” 

Wabash would go on to win the next four outdoor titles — as well as the indoor ones.  Over that time period, Wabash would have 16 All-American finishes and two national champions. But as always, winning wasn’t the mission.

“The trophies and banners and all that are nice, but it was the camaraderie among the guys that meant so much to me,” said John Haley ’13, who became an All-American in the 4×400-meter relay  in 2013. “We enjoyed the process of improving and pushed each other to perform at our best. We’d bring the freshmen in and make sure they were following our lead. We’d compete against each other in practice for spots on relays — there aren’t many teams doing that, but championship-caliber teams do. ”

In a program used to championships, both team and individual, everyone was counted as a vital part of the team. Every runner from a national champion to the last man on the roster was accountable to the driving mindset behind Wabash track.

“Coach always talked about the importance of every man getting his point at the meet and many times meet winners were decided by a couple points,” said Haley. “One thing you could always count on from Wabash was we were cheering for every man in every event as if it were the deciding point on the line. It’s understated how Coach taught us that the little things matter. Seventh place matters just as much as first when you’re working as a team.”

In 2016 Wabash track demonstrated what made it so special, and it became the “most iconic” moment in Morgan’s 17-year career. Wabash lost the 2016 Outdoor Championship to Ohio Wesleyan by one point. It broke the championship streak, but it showed that Morgan’s program made more than just champions.

Head Track & Field Coach Clyde Morgan stands alongside the 10 North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship trophies that his team has won during his tenure. In 2024, Wabash won its record-setting 10th NCAC title, passing Ohio Wesleyan as conference leader. | Photos by Will Duncan ’27

“We weren’t even supposed to be in the top three that year,” said Morgan. “That showed me the character of my coaches and my athletes, that they gave me everything they had. So we lost by one point… And that was how the winning streak got broken. Most programs, your guys would be crying. And I just remember looking around to see the guy hugging and loving on each other and the appreciation. They knew they gave everything they had. Our bus driver, Fred, was hugging the guys and high-fiving them. Well, we lost didn’t we? But there was a lot of winning that day.”

The Little Giants won the NCAC title again in 2017 and in 2019, 2021, 2022 and finally in 2024. Even as the competition in the NCAC demands more of Wabash each season, the Little Giants’ streak of dominance continues. More than that, the mentality continues. 

“We focus more on other streaks,” said Morgan. “How many days in a row can you show toughness in the classroom, on the track and in life? How many days in a row can you be a great leader on the team, on campus and in the community? How many days in a row can you get to know a different teammate or Wabash Man?” 

Amongst all the winning in competition comes personal victories. Morgan’s emphasis on learning to overcome obstacles, give everything and keep going has shaped the lives of hundreds of Wabash men in the past 17 years.

Haiden Diemer-McKinney ’26 set the school and conference record in his freshman season — finishing third at nationals to become an All-American. However, in his second season, Diemer-McKinney suffered an injury that set him back a year.

“I had never really navigated an injury like that before,” said Diemer-McKinney. “I was losing some sense of identity and purpose in a way. After that, Coach Morgan came up to me, and he just gave me a big hug. And he told me I was going to be alright, ‘We’re gonna be good. We’re gonna get through this together. Come to my office anytime you want to chat.’”

“Coach Morgan molded me like the father I never had,” said Ra’Shawn Jones ’20. “He didn’t accept bare minimum and told me straight when I needed it. If you needed more time in the weight room, he let you know. If you needed more time in the classroom, he let you know… He is the epitome of what a coach should be and is a great example of the father I wish to become.”

Now the Little Giants enter their 2025 outdoor season as the leading program in the NCAC, but things won’t be changing anytime soon. Because being first was never the center of the program, being first won’t stop them from striving from the kinds of success Morgan has fought to instill in the team.